1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spout transfer method and apparatus in which spouts positioned in a specified position are received and transferred to a plurality of spout holding members that are disposed on the circumference of a continuously rotating rotor and further relates to a spout positioning and supplying apparatus which positions and supplies spouts to the transfer apparatus.
2. Prior Art
Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-Open) Nos. H11-208884, H11-124228 and 2000-62050, for instance, disclose rotary type spout transfer apparatuses. In these rotary type spout transfer apparatuses, a plurality of spout transfer means are disposed on the circumference of a continuously rotating rotor, spouts that are in a substantially stationary state in a specified position are held and conveyed by the spout transfer means, and the spouts are transferred to the spout holding means of an adjacent continuously rotating working rotor.
In particular, in Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-Open) No. H11-208884, a transfer apparatus in which a plurality of clamping means are disposed on the circumference of a continuously rotating rotor is disposed between a parts feeder and a spout-equipped container manufacturing apparatus, spouts positioned in a receiving position at the exit point of these parts feeder are received by the clamping means, and the spouts are transferred to dampers disposed on the circumference of the continuously rotating rotor of a spout-equipped container manufacturing apparatus.
Furthermore, in Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-Open) No. H11-124228, a transfer apparatus in which a plurality of neck-retaining levers are disposed on the circumference of a continuously rotating rotor is disposed between a conveying trough and a rotary filling machine, spout-equipped containers which are pushed out from the exit point of the conveying trough are received between the neck-retaining levers and the suspension stage of the rotor, and the spout-equipped containers are transferred to fingers disposed on the circumference of the continuously rotating rotor of the filling machine.
In Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-Open) No. 2000-62050, a transfer apparatus in which a plurality of supply arms are disposed on the circumference of a continuously rotating rotor is disposed between the feeder part of a vibrating feeder and a rotary apparatus (spout-equipped container manufacturing apparatus), spouts are received from the feeder part by the supply arms, and the spouts are transferred to clamping members disposed on the circumference of the continuously rotating rotor of the above-described rotary apparatus.
In the above-described prior art transfer apparatuses, spout transfer means are disposed on the circumference of a continuously rotating rotor, and the spout transfer means receive spouts that are in a stationary state while the spout transfer means are moving, and the spouts are then transferred to the spout holding means of a working rotor that rotates continuously in synchronization with the spout transfer means. However, in the receiving process, it is generally necessary that the spout transfer means receive the spouts at the instant that the spout transfer means arrive at the spout position. Consequently, in cases where the processing speed (units/minute) of the transfer operation is increased, the receiving process abruptly becomes unstable, so that receiving errors (failure to receive, positional deviation, etc.) occur in large numbers. Accordingly, in spite of the fact that the transfer apparatuses (apparatuses in which spout transfer means are disposed on the circumference of a continuously rotating rotor) are used for the purpose of high-speed transfer processing, stable high-speed processing cannot be achieved.
Accordingly, the present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and the object of the present invention is to allow stable high-speed processing in a spout transfer operation.
The spout transfer method of the present invention is characterized in that the method uses a transfer rotor that has a plurality of spout transfer means disposed on its circumference, wherein the transfer rotor receives spouts using the spout transfer means and conveys the spouts and transfers the spouts to a plurality of spout holding members disposed on a circumference of a continuously rotating rotor, and in which:
the transfer rotor is rotated intermittently by a specified angle at a time in a cycle that comprises stopping, acceleration, constant speed, deceleration and stopping,
the spout transfer means receives, when the transfer rotor is stopped, the spouts positioned in a specified position,
during a period of the constant-speed rotation the spout transfer means are rotated at a speed that matches a speed of the spout holding members, and both of the spout transfer means and the spout holding members are caused to run side by side, and
during this period the spouts are transferred from the spout transfer means to the spout holding members.
Furthermore, the spout transfer apparatus of the present invention receives spouts positioned in a specified position, conveys the spouts and transfers the spouts to a plurality of spout holding members which are disposed on a circumference of a continuously rotating working rotor, the spout transfer apparatus is characterized in that it comprises:
a transfer rotor which has a plurality of spout transfer means disposed on a circumference thereof, and
a driving means which causes the transfer rotor to rotate intermittently by a specified angle at a time in a cycle that comprises stopping, acceleration, constant speed, deceleration and stopping, so that the driving means causes the spout transfer means, during the period of constant-speed rotation, to match a speed of the spout holding members and causes the spout transfer means and the spout holding members to run side by side, during the period of constant-speed rotation; and wherein:
the spout transfer means receive positioned spouts when the transfer rotor is stopped, and
the spout transfer means transfers the spouts to the spout holding members during the period of constant-speed rotation.
This spout transfer apparatus is installed adjacent to, for instance, a spout insertion and temporary-sealing apparatus. The spout insertion and temporary-sealing apparatus comprises a plurality of spout holding members disposed on a circumference of a continuously rotating rotor and bag holding-and-insertion means that correspond to the respective spout holding members, and it opens the bags held by the bag holding-and-insertion means, fits the bags over spouts held by the spout holding members, and then temporarily seals the bags and spouts.
The spout holding members are, for instance, fork-shaped members which have clamping grooves that are oriented outward in a radial direction so as to hold groove portions located between flanges of the spouts, and tapered surfaces that open outward are formed in a vicinity of an entry point of the clamping groove.
Furthermore, it is desirable that a spout transfer means of the spout transfer apparatus have gripping sections that open and close, and head portions of the spouts are gripped by the gripping sections. The gripping sections open and close, for instance, in a vertical plane that is parallel to the radial direction of the transfer rotor.
In a case where the spout holding members have the above-described structure, it is possible that a conveying track of centers of spout holding positions of the spout transfer means and a conveying track of centers of the spout holding positions of the spout holding members are set to be close to each other, and the transfer rotor is rotated at a constant speed in a vicinity of a position of closest proximity of the two conveying tracks, so that the spouts held by the spout transfer means are introduced into clamping grooves of the spout holding members while the transfer rotor is rotating at the constant speed. In order to push the spouts even further into the centers of the spout holding positions of the spout holding members, a push-in guide member is provided. The push-in guide member has a guide surface that contacts spouts introduced into the clamping grooves and guides the spouts from the conveying track of centers of the spout holding positions of the spout transfer means toward the conveying track of centers of the spout holding positions of the spout holding members.
In regard to the transfer apparatus that is installed adjacent to the spout insertion and temporary-sealing apparatus, when a timing is set in the transfer apparatus so that spouts that correspond to bags supplied to the holding-and-insertion means of the spout insertion and temporary-sealing apparatus are received after the bags have been supplied, a detection device which detects faulty supply of bags to the holding-and-insertion means is provided, and a regulating means which stops receiving of corresponding spouts by the spout transfer means based upon a detection signal of the detection device is provided.
Likewise, when a timing is set in the transfer apparatus so that spouts that correspond to bags opened by the holding-and-insertion means of the spout insertion and temporary-sealing apparatus are received after the bags have been opened, a detection device which detects faulty opening of bags by the holding-and-insertion means is provided, and a regulating means which stops receiving of corresponding spouts by the spout transfer means based upon a detection signal of the detection device is also provided.
The present invention further provides a spout positioning and supplying apparatus that supplies spouts to the spout transfer apparatus. This spout positioning and supplying apparatus is comprised of:
spout supply rails which support bottoms of flange portion of spouts from both sides and guide the spouts into a single row,
a feed-in means disposed near an exit of the spout supply rails, the feed-in means driving the spouts on the spout supply rails toward the exit and advancing the spouts in a state of tight contact with each other,
an opening-and-closing stopper disposed at the exit of the spout supply rails so as to contact an leading spout and position the leading spout, and
a separating stopper that engages with a second spout and stops an advance of the second spout when the opening-and-closing stopper is opened, and releases the engagement with the second spout when the opening-and-closing stopper is closed.